


A Ghost for your Troubles

by Tsudo



Category: SAKANA (Webcomic)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Death, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-17 22:06:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21950443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tsudo/pseuds/Tsudo
Summary: After dying, Yuudai didn’t move on.  He couldn’t move on even if he  wanted to, because his heart wouldn’t let him. Not until he finds that someone else has their eyes on him.
Relationships: Jiro Sakana/Chie Yamamoto, Taisei Tachibana/Yuudai Tanaka, Yuudai Tanaka/Arata Tasaki
Kudos: 8





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sakana Discord Chat](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Sakana+Discord+Chat).



> Hello and Merry Sakanamas to those who are from the chat. Hello to those who simply found this story too. ^^ I hope that this story will catch your eye and you will continue to read as I upload. I will be trying to upload at least once every month and even after hopefully finishing this story, maybe add new stuff as well. Please critique me and leave comments if you enjoyed. Happy reading~

**Prologue**

Yuudai didn’t like mornings. 

He didn’t like how he felt during this time of day in general and yet he had grown used to waking up early in the morning. For most, the smell of fresh fish would have driven them insane but Yuudai had grown used to it after almost a decade. Sometimes he wondered if his nose had stopped working at this point. He remembered he had to get up and willed himself to move.  His body felt light as he opened his eyes to the wooden ceiling above him in the small bungalow. He’d forgotten he had fallen asleep here. Not that it mattered. 

The boxes that filled the space had a green tarp laid over them to keep them from being destroyed by other elements. Equipment for the Sakana stall sat back here along with stuff that belonged to some of the other stalls, scattered in groups along the lower floor. He looked around for his cigarette box and let out a small sigh of relief upon finding it after only moving a few things out of the way.

He took his time getting down, smoking for a moment, letting the cold but welcoming fall air wake him up as he tiredly came down the stairs. He reached the lower floor and looked around. Even from the back, he could see people running in every direction, unable to see him from behind the piles of boxes and equipment. The sound of stuff being chopped, people screaming all around, and machinery whirring only made him wish he could go back to sleep.

He stretched and started to walk towards the store.

The tarp that separated him from the kitchen had seen better days, showing its age with dirt marks and cuts from being torn. Yuudai grumbled and pushed past it, looking around for the workers that were supposed to be here already. Instead, he was greeted with silence, causing him to grunt in frustration.

“Ugh. They’re late.” Yuudai set out a few knives on the cutting table and double-checked the stock. Mura wouldn’t be around for another thirty minutes but that didn’t mean that things shouldn’t be counted ahead of time to see what they had. From the looks of it, today was going to be a good day to sell some extra squid. His ears perked as he heard the sound of chattering and a small growl escaped him. He wasted no time, rushing through the dark blue tarp towards the front, and taking in the two young men that walked towards the stall with smiles on their faces.

“Sakanas…” He grumbled with murderous intent. They were late. They were almost ALWAYS late. It was only 6:02 but even if they were only late by a few minutes, it was still bad for business! The two acted as though he wasn’t there and continued to talk to each other as Jiro bent down behind the register and pulled out the hidden key.

“Come on man. It’s cool that you have a crush on that register chick but ya gotta be more persuasive~” Taro chortled as he put his arm on the register and looked down. Jiro gave him a tired look before standing up and putting the key into the register to open it. 

“I mean yeah but- I don’t know what to really say to her. I’d rather take my time and try to be smooth,” Jiro said with a nervous smile on his face. Yuudai tried to imagine Jiro being “smooth” and held back the urge to laugh. It was too early for that much noise. The day Jiro became smooth would be the day he’d keel over.

“You’ll be  _** smooth **_ when you actually learn how to do your job right!” Yuudai muttered to himself as he glared at the two who still hadn’t taken the time to notice him yet. His attention went to Taro who was wearing a pair of old khaki pants with a plaid blue and white shirt. Jiro wore a pair of dark blue jeans with a white shirt and a black jacket. 

“Well, I guess you just need a good push in the right direction~ Like a good old shove. I can easily give you one if you need to,” Taro said as he got ready to head towards the back. Yuudai made sure he was standing up straight, positioning himself in the middle of the stall and took in a deep breath before yelling,

“WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU GUYS TALKING LIKE THERE ISN’T WORK TO BE DONE! EVERYONE ELSE IS ALREADY IN PLACE AND YOU GUYS ARE BUSY TALKING ABOUT STUPID STUFF LIKE-” 

Taro paid no mind to Yuudai’s rant. 

Taro didn’t even notice when he walked through Yuudai.

‘Oh right,’ Yuudai thought a little too late as his body shuddered while feeling the shorter man walk through him, pulling pieces of him along like peels of steam before it snapped back into place on Yuudai’s body. Yuudai froze a moment upon remembering his situation. He turned around to Taro who had stopped walking and let out a deep shiver. His arms shook as he brought them up to hug himself. 

“You okay Taro?” Jiro asks as the cash register lets out a loud ding. 

“Yeah, just felt a weird breeze… Did you feel that? Maybe we left the freezer on too high again. Or a crack of something letting in a shit load of air?” Taro looked around and let out a breath of air as if to check the temperature. Yuudai continued to stare at Taro and stepped backward, causing him to run straight into Jiro who walked through him and let out the same heavy shudder. Jiro looked around, his eyes darting in Yuudai’s direction before turning back to Taro.

“ _ Brrrrr _ , maybe it is the freezer? Hopefully we’ll be able to turn it down or put out the heater soon after we get everything in order.” Jiro went back to push the register close and the two walked into the back room. 

Yuudai paid no mind to the sound of the two boys questioning how the knives and equipment were already down off the shelves. He walked to the front of the store, making sure to not run into anyone else who entered the stall’s vicinity and sighed. He cursed in frustration as he remembered he didn’t put any of the cigarettes into his pocket and let the breeze rush by him. He watched civilians and workers walk by and looked up at the grey clouds that covered the area, knowing that with them would come rain.

“I hate mornings...” 


	2. Ch.2 ~A prank won't hurt ~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So HAHA~ I stalled on putting this up for very silly reasons *hides behind shield just in case something comes flying at them* BUT~ Thank you to all who were patient enough to wait, I have a couple chapters complete and am set on writing a couple more this weekend. ^^ Please enjoy the chapter and see ya in a couple weeks.

Ch.1

Yuudai was...dead.

He knew that. It wasn’t exactly a secret. 

He could see through his own body for Christ’s sake and people walked through him on a regular basis. Although every once in a while he forgot this himself.

Still, It wasn’t as if it was a problem. Yuudai never had to worry about being hungry, and he could sleep whenever he wanted to. He remembered most of his life and for some reason found peace in knowing he didn’t have to worry about “living.”

The problem was he didn’t know HOW he died. 

Yuudai let himself float a little as he tried to remember. His life had been pretty mundane, but not too bad. He worked at the fish shop for six years, rising in the ranks. It paid well enough and he was able to send a little bit of money to his mother every once in a while. Taro was at the stall during the time he was alive but he had never met Jiro except once at the barbeque. The last day he was alive had started like any other. He remembered waking up, going to work, finishing for the day and then- Nothing. All that came after was a HORRIBLE headache. Yuudai touched his head in a bit of frustration. He didn’t understand how ghosts can get headaches but this one was sitting with him.

Realizing he was at a dead end with that thought(no pun intended), he began to think about why he was here. He had always been told that after death souls pass on or they’re reincarnated. He knew that some souls don’t pass immediately if something is holding them back or they are needed somewhere but that only left Yuudai with more questions.

If he was supposed to go to where he was needed most why was he stuck here at the SAKANA family fish stall? Why not with his mother or even his old apartment? The idea that he had something holding him here of all places puzzled him. He flipped over in the air and watched the two brothers work. 

Jiro worked to get the register in order after coming from the back with his apron and a fresh pair of gloves. He mumbled as he brought out the cash box and put the money back into their separate sections. Yuudai mumbles the numbers under his breath and thanked the gods when Jiro completed the task correctly. 

Yuudai’s main gripes on Jiro was that he could have easily completed particular tasks in less time. Or that he was just being lazy by talking to Taro. He began to wonder if the reason he was forced to stay here was to help the Sakanas. Yuudai brought his hand down to try to put it on Jiro’s shoulder but it phased right through. Jiro looked up for a second before looking back at the register.

Yuudai chuckled to himself, an empty solemn sound. ‘Oh yeah, I am of so much use to the Sakanas when I can’t even touch them!!’ 

Yuudai let out a huff as he floated away from the younger worker. This was pointless. He closed his eyes for a moment as he listened to the sound of the two of them working. After everything was set up Jiro let out a sigh of relief. Yuudai opened his eyes as Jiro brought his head up upon hearing the sound of a motor. 

Yuudai groaned as Mura came into view with a large variety of boxes on the back of his vehicle. 

“Yo Sakana! Here’s your stuff for today.” 

Jiro made his way over to Mura. Yuudai followed and looked over the stock as Jiro took him time opening each container. Thankfully there was only a small batch of squid so Jiro wouldn’t have to sell a crapload of it but Yuudai frowned as he stood next to Mura.

“Ugh, his stock is still shit as always,” Yuudai glared at the older man up and down. ‘If only he could hear me.’ He had worked with Mura in the past but the two had never really seen eye to eye. To tell the truth, Mura was a whiny man who acted as though Yuudai’s seniority at the job meant nothing when it clearly did. Yuudai let his hand slash over the top of Mura’s head and his hat. Mura stopped talking for a second before shaking it off.

“Hey Sakana, why does it always feel like it’s freezing over here? You guys aren’t even that close to the ice machine.” Mura looked around as he rubbed the back of his head and Jiro shrugged in response.

“No idea really. It’s been like this morning. Shoot every other day really.”

“Hm… Maybe you guys are being haunted by a ghost.” Jiro let out a nervous chuckle at that. Yuudai froze for a moment as he stared at Mura, only for the worker to burst into a fit of laughter. Mura slammed his arm against Jiro’s back as Jiro too started to laugh nervously.

“HAHAHA! Don’t believe everything you hear man! Besides, what type of ghost would want to haunt this place?” 

“That’s what I'd like to ask myself,” Yuudai grumbled as Mura pulled the boxes off the cart. Jiro grabbed his chart and began to count everything, giving Mura a small nod once everything was in order. Yuudai grew bored with watching the two and made his way towards the back. 

The sound of chopping filled the air and fish begging for their lives to be spared by shaking violently against cutting boards. Yuudai couldn’t get on Taro for doing his job. Surprisingly, he always got the job done. Although he always made a horrible mess. 

Yuudai let himself ease into relaxation as he watched the two do their job. The day went by as usual. Yuudai did his normal routine as he moved between the two rooms; Spend an hour watching Jiro and watching the crowd, go to Taro and watch him work until Yuudai gets grossed out, go to the back and have a smoke, rinse and repeat. If he was lucky, a cat would walk through the area and he’d see if he could catch its attention. 

The number of people in the market had died down now that most of the mothers had picked up the ingredients they needed and the last of the tourists were finishing up with their visits so Yuudai decided to finish the day like he always does. In the back with Taro.

Yuudai sat a few feet away from him, making sure not to be in his way so that the butcher wouldn’t shudder while cutting. They didn’t need another butcher losing a finger. 

He spewed off about simple things, usually how annoying it was that Jiro wasn’t doing everything exactly as he felt it should be done. Or even talking about how Mura had messed up the order even when he wasn’t too mad at it. He knew Taro couldn’t hear him but he had always felt like talking to him was better than trying to talk to himself all day.

The sudden sound of chattering caught Yuudai’s ear as he looked towards the front of the store. He could hear Jiro talking, his tone very casual as he spoke but Yuudai could not recognize the other voice. Was it a customer this late in the afternoon? That wouldn’t be a surprise but the way in which Jiro talked made it obvious that he wouldn’t be talking to a customer.

Yuudai decided to pause his conversation with Taro to see what was happening. He phased through the tarp and looked to Jiro first, who was in the middle of chuckling at something that the person in front of him was saying. Yuudai looked towards the possible customer. 

Standing near the register was a tall man. 

Yuudai couldn’t remember the last time he had seen someone taller than him (other than Ren). 

The man wore a pair of black pants and a white button-down shirt with a simple blue tie. He looked pretty well put together and had his coat hung over his arm. His hair was brown and slightly flopped into his face. He talked to Jiro with a cheerful tone, every once in awhile looking around the stall as if to take in every detail of the area. Definitely not a customer.

Every time. Every single time! Jiro just had to do everything but his job!

Yuudai grumbled as he looked towards the clock, the frown on his face softening just a bit. It was already closing time so he couldn’t really get mad at Jiro, no matter how loud he yelled it wasn’t as if they would hear him. He could easily ignore them and head back to finish talking to Taro…

Or, he could pull a tiny prank.

Yuudai devised a plan. He did every once in a while to mess with the Sakanas but doing it while a random person was around could only lead to trouble. It was unfortunately bad for business. But he could do...a small harmless one. 

Yuudai walked behind Jiro who had bent down to finish at the register. He let out a breath and felt the air escape his lips and hit Jiro on the back of his neck. The cashier jumped causing him to hit the businessman square in the forehead. Yuudai cursed under his breath. He hadn’t noticed that he had moved closer. Why did he have to be there!

Oh well, Yuudai found himself snickering as the two let out groans of pain and rubbed their heads. 

“Sorry Taisei, I felt a chill on my neck,” Jiro let out another groan. Taisei however simply chuckled as he stood up a bit more straight. He only seemed to have a small bump compared to Jiro who had obviously taken the brunt of the hit. He walked towards the back to get a piece of ice from the freezer, Yuudai barely dodging him as he did so. 

“I thought I heard the nerd.” Yuudai turned to see Taro as he made his way from the back. Yuudai would check the back in a moment but for now, he trusted that Taro cleaned up his murder scene of a mess. “You ready to go Jiro?” Taro already had his jacket on and wiped a small smudge of dirt (at least that’s what Yuudai hoped it was) off of his glasses. Jiro nodded as he closed the freezer and snapped the lock. He hissed as the ice hit the spot on his head. 

“Almost! I just need to lock the other freezer.” Taro made his way over to it and clicked the lock, he mixed up the combination and made his way towards the front. Yuudai watched the two carefully as they got their coats and belongings from the cabinet and moved towards the front.

“Alright, we’re ready to go. Sorry for the wait Taisei.” Yuudai looked to his left, he jumped when he realized Taisei had somehow gotten closer without him noticing and was now staring at his phone. Yuudai walked towards the back again, grumbling a bit that he had allowed himself to be caught off guard.

“It’s alright! But shouldn’t you wait for everyone else to be ready?”

“Huh?” Taro and Jiro looked at each other a bit puzzled then back to Taisei.

“What are you talking about Taisei?” Jiro said with a chuckle. Maybe that hit to the head had been a bit too much for him.

“Your third coworker? The one who’s been standing next to me while you guys finished up.” Yuudai felt something thump inside of him as panic fell over him.

“He was being super quiet and patient so I almost didn’t notice him! But his hair was so cool! What’s his name?”

Yuudai turned to look at Taisei. He had to be talking about someone else right? No one could see him. Right?! If that was it, THEN WHY WAS THIS MAN STARING STRAIGHT AT HIM?! 

Taisei’s eyes grew bigger as a grin stretched over his face. Yuudai felt something. Something he hadn’t felt in a while. Something that he was sure he never feels again. True. Terror! If he were still alive, he could have sworn his heartbeat would be pulsing up a storm. It was a dream. This couldn’t be happening! This couldn’t be happening!! THIS COULDN'T BE-”

“What the hell?!” 

Yuudai looked up as the sound of Taro’s voice smacked him back into reality. But what he saw was something like a nightmare. Anything that was left on the table; the old register paper roll that had been thrown into the trash bin, the calendar that hung on the wall, shoot, even the messenger bag that laid on Taisei’s shoulder was beginning to float upwards. 

Taro and Jiro’s faces were pale with shock. Yuudai stared in horror and after a second everything dropped.

Yuudai looked at the younger man one more time, before zooming into the back of the stall and up into his hidey-hole. There was nowhere else he could hide but he was sure he’d be safer there than near whoever that was.

Taro and Jiro stood in silence.

The empty receipt paper roll slowly came to a stop at Jiro’s foot. Taro stood with his mouth open, attempting to think of something to say but nothing escaped his lips. The light at the top of the stall swung a bit as if a wind had flown into the stall. Jiro was sure Taisei was talking in the background. Saying something about how amazing that was, and that he wished he had gotten their name but his excitement fell onto deaf ears. Jiro and Taro locked eyes as they took a moment and nodded in agreement. The best way to react to this was: To get the fuck out. 

Jiro grabbed his bag from under the register and the two booked it. They ignored Taisei’s panic over them locking in their third coworker and closed the main lock. Taro felt like he was flying just by how quickly he and Jiro left the area. Even as Jiro almost tripped on his feet when the cashier girl asked if he was alright, nothing was more important than getting out. 

They could save being brave and investigating for tomorrow. 

The Sakana stall became silent once more, causing the mysterious third coworker to let out a sigh of relief. 

Yuudai peeked out from his hiding spot between the boxes on the messy second floor. He sat against the boxes, working to calm himself down as he thought over everything that had just happened.

He had never been able to make that many things float at once. Sure he had sent a pot flying or dropping a thing here or there. Or even that time he made that crab pinch Jiro while he was making goo-goo eyes at the female cashier across the way. But his emotions had never let him do something out of The Exorcist. But no, It wasn’t his actions or the reaction of the Sakanas that had scared him the most. 

Yuudai put his hand over his chest as he felt the beating slow down and then disappear altogether. He hadn’t felt anything like that in a long time. Did his heart still exist somewhere in there? Unlikely, he thought. 

Yuudai laid back down as the world around him slowed. 

He felt tired, moreso than usual. His eyes grew heavy as he relaxed. Maybe he had gotten a bit too emotional. He let out a quiet yawn and quieted his thoughts.

Taisei… that had been the name of the man. 

If he was lucky, he’d never see or hear of him again, especially after what had happened today. The man would probably never come to the stall again. Leaving Yuudai to “live” quietly as he had been for two years. But as Yuudai closed his eyes and drifted off he felt a piece of him whisper:

‘It’d be nice to see him again.’


	3. Ch.3 ~Ghostly Employee~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *peeks from their hiding hole* Enjoy~

Ch.2

“Okay so… So uh- run this by me again? What exactly did you see?”

Taro pointed his gaze towards Taisei who sat on the couch. Jiro sat next to Taisei and was staring just as intently as his brother.

Taisei chuckled at how seriously the two looked at him, both giving him the feeling that he was a key witness at a trial. Taisei cleared his throat as he thought about the events that occurred in the past hour. 

The whole walk home had been silent.

The two brothers spent it mainly trying to calm down after booking it out of the market without taking a moment to look back. Taisei tried to talk, hoping it would calm their nerves but Taro just hushed him saying, ‘We’ll talk when we get home.’ Taisei did as he was told, knowing it would be for the best since Jiro was still pale. After a 30 minute walk the three entered the apartment, Taro had changed his shirt and the trial began. Taisei straightened up and looked between the two.

“I saw a guy a few inches taller than Jiro. He had blonde hair, and he wore a nice green shirt. He seemed curious about what we were doing but didn’t say anything so I tried to say hi?” Taisei looked up expecting the two to relax but instead, Taro’s face went white. Jiro let out a small nervous chuckle.

“Yeah...that’s definitely Yuudai.” Taro brought his hand over his mouth as he finished his sentence. He moved back a bit, taking a moment to look away. “It can’t be…” Taro trailed off as he looked back to Taisei. 

“Is that his name? Yuudai?” Taisei asked. What a nice name. It seemed to go perfectly with the person he remembered seeing. Taro turned to Jiro.

“You remember Yuudai, right Jiro?” Jiro let out a small cough before a couple more bits of laughter escaped his mouth.

“I mean… Kinda? I only remember seeing him at the barbecue but he was kinda glaring at me the whole time. By the time I got to the stall, he was er-...gone.” Jiro looked away feeling a bit bad that he had never got to talk to the older man. Maybe they could have been friends.

“Oh, maybe he came to visit the stall? He seemed so cool and I wanted to talk to him more.” Taro and Jiro looked at Taisei in shock as he said this. 

“How dense can you be?!” Taro barked out, causing Taisei to jump. Taisei looked at him with a puzzled look and Taro to let out a tired sigh. Jiro put his hand on Taisei’s leg to grab his attention and cleared his throat. 

“Um, Taisei. Yuudai was a previous worker who passed away right before I got to the stall.” The smile left Taisei’s face as he looked down a bit sad.

“Oh… I didn’t realize. He seemed pretty normal?”

Jiro took a moment to think before looking to Taisei again. He had never really talked about this stuff with Taro around. 

“Hey dude, remember how when we were kids you used to stop to talk to people ALL the time but every once in awhile, no one was there? Like that time that we were walking home and I looked back and it looked like you were talking to the signpost? Then you ran over to me and apologized saying you were giving directions to an old woman who needed help but I saw NOBODY when you pointed to them?” Taisei laughed and opened his mouth to give a rebuttal but Jiro didn’t stop.

“Or the time that we went on that scary night trial in high school and you said you talked to one of the “ghost actors” and when we got the photo we took with the cast you pointed to a shadow in the back saying that was the one you talked to? I mean we never really talked much about it but your mom is a medium. Maybe, It really is something that runs in the family?” 

Taisei mumbles for a moment before letting out, “Okay, maybe I have seen a few ghosts here and there...I can’t really disagree with you there.” 

He couldn’t disagree that he had a couple of times in which he had talked to people without realizing that they were probably not alive. It wasn’t anything new for Jiro to tell Taisei that the person he saw wasn’t visible for others, or for him to say he saw something that others couldn’t even recognize. Taisei put his hands together and took a breathe in.

“Ok, maybe the person I saw at the stall was a ghost.”

“YOU THINK?!” Taro said as he pushed his hand through his hair. Taro was pretty tough but there were things that got to him and it was quickly becoming obvious that the idea of ghosts was one of them. 

“But- obviously he has some reason for being there? My mom says, spirits usually have a reason for being in a location after death. Maybe he was just coming by to vist? Or he’s acting as a guardian?” Taisei looked up at the two of them with a hopeful expression.

“I doubt that” and “Yeah, fuck that,” were said in unison.

“I mean your mom is a medium, maybe she can help us understand what exactly is causing him to be there,” Jiro asked.

“Or a way to get him out of the stall so he doesn’t do that crazy floating shit again?” Taro spun his finger around in the air to emphasize what had happened earlier. Taisei takes a moment to think.

“I’ll try to call her, although she might be busy till later tonight. Maybe I can come by again and try… talking to him? Maybe he was surprised someone saw him? I mean that would surprise anyone, especially since he probably hasn’t talked to someone in a long time.” Taisei’s voice became a bit sad as he tried to think through everything. He couldn’t imagine not having someone to talk to. 

“Great, then you can come tomorrow?” Jiro chimed in.

“Er- okay maybe not tomorrow...or the day after. I have a bunch of work I have to get done tomorrow and I don’t know if I'll leave work early enough to get down to you guys. Sorry…” Taro raised up his hands in frustration.

“Whelp. If anything weird happens tomorrow, I'm burning down the stall.” Taro walked towards the kitchen to get ready to cook dinner. Jiro chuckled nervously praying that Taro was joking. He turned to Taisei.

“Don’t worry Jiro. I’m sure he wants to be friends.” Jiro couldn’t imagine that being true but it wasn’t as if things could get any weirder.

“I sure hope so, or I’m pretty sure there’s going to be a fire tomorrow. I can’t tell if Taro is joking or not.”

Jiro looked at Taisei seriously but it wasn’t long before the two were laughing.  
___

“Alright. Ready?”

“3”

“2”

“1”

“OPEN IT!” Jiro opened the gate to the stall as Taro went in. Jiro stared in surprise as Taro rolled into the stall and looked around. He held out his wet umbrella like it was a sword and moved towards the back.

Jiro locked the gate and looked around. The water dripped from the edge of the gate onto the floor. The inside was thankfully dry and the inside slightly warm due to everything being closed up. Jiro picked up the receipt paper roll from the ground and put it in the trash bin. He grabbed the key for the register that had come closer to going under the freezer. The key was wet and cold from sitting on the ground. He rubbed it between his fingers for a moment and brought the key over to the register. The bell dinged and for a moment Jiro thought he could hear the world turning by how silent it was. Taro came from the back.

“Anything?” 

“Nope?”

“Did you feel the usual chill?”

“Not at all. It’s actually pretty warm today.”

There was no strange breeze, no shuddering from a sudden chill. Just the sound of the fish market. Before they would have suspected it meant that the freezer had finally stopped being a bitch. Or maybe the gods were being a bit kinder. But to find out something had supernatural existed in the stall and now there was nothing- seemed a bit- off.

“Jiro. I think I’m gonna burn down the stall anyway.” Taro said this with a gravelly voice. Jiro jumped to action as the image of a Taro grabbing the matches from the cabinet and the stall in flames flashed before his eyes.

“Let’s not get hasty Taro. Maybe he left or he could be asleep. Do...do ghost sleep. Either way, I don’t think that should lead to you burning down the stall!” Taro grumbled as he nodded and helped Jiro finish setting up. The two began their work, with Taro heading to the back. Taro put out his usual knives and held it up. Hr looked around for a moment, trying to see if he felt anything.

“Heeeey buddy. If you’re around, know that I’ve always been nice to you even when I’ve wanted to give you a noogie so try not to scare me shitless like you did yesterday okay buddy?” Taro obtained silence as his answer and huffed. He pulled out his first victim, a tuna who flailed around in an attempt to save it’s life and prepared his knife.

“I would have expected one of you guys to come for me as a ghost than him.” The fish struggled a bit more, failing to see the point of conversing with the butcher who was about to take its life. Taro brought his knife down and began his duties. 

Today was gonna be a long one.

…

For the Sakana brothers the days seem slow and Long. If it wasn’t for the constant business Taro would have probably gone insane. Nothing like the day before occurs. The only reminder of the incident they obtain is Mura coming to give them their fish for the day and then laugh at them after seeing the two running out the market like they’d seen a ghost. Jiro laughs it off while Taro grumbles about why Yuudai doesn’t just haunt Mura. 

The two head home like normal. Eat dinner like normal. Taisei comes home around nine. His tie already pushed out of place and his eyes drained of all life, but a smile still sits on his face. Jiro and Taro both proclaim, “They saw nothing.” The smile almost drops off of his face but he just says maybe Yuudai is being shy before promising he’ll be done all his work by tomorrow. He says this and crawls away to bed. Within seconds of hearing him enter, the sounds of his snores fill the apartment. 

The next day comes in and for Jiro and Taro, their stall is- still completely normal. It could probably get an award for being the most “normal” stall in Japan. A perfect 10 out of 10. Jiro texts Taisei who is neck deep in work. But the man swears he’ll be done by tomorrow. 

That night the two brothers don’t hear Taisei enter the house. A single text saying, “I’ll be at the stall tomorrow.” acting as the only reference to his existence. Jiro and Taro wake up the next morning. The sun almost screams at them with how bright it is as they travel to the fish market. And for the most part, the day is quiet. A few intense customers, a couple loud tourist, and Jiro almost falls over a bunch of boxes while walking past the cash register girl. In almost a instant the day is over, the sun started to take it’s leave as it shines through the clouds.

“I wonder if he’s coming?” Jiro looks at his phone. Taisei hadn’t texted him all day. It was uncommon for Taisei to not send at least one text to Jiro a day, usually checking in on him. But with the way that Taisei had explained his schedule, he wouldn’t have been surprised if his friend was asleep at his desk. He cleaned up the front, bringing in the displays and moves towards the back. Taro poked his head out from the back, a small smudge of blood still on his glasses. 

“I’m almost done cleaning up back here. Have you heard from Taisei?” Jiro shakes his head.

“No. Let’s finish up and see what happe-” Before Jiro can finish his sentence the sound of rushed footsteps fill the air. Jiro turns to fully see the large black shadow that is coming towards their stall. Taisei comes running into the stall. The whole way almost tripping over his feet. His messenger bag almost completely empty unlike the past couple days. His suit shows obvious winkling from being worn for two days. His hair clean but a couple hairs sit out of place. Taisei lets out a gasp as he works to take in as much air as he can and catch his breath. 

Jiro almost feels bad as Taisei looks up, bags under his eyes from obviously not getting enough sleep and a couple coffee stains on his shirt. Taisei smiles as he holds up his hand to emphasize that he’s alive.

“Okay. I’m sorry. I’m here. I just- I got everything done like I promised so now i’m free.” Jiro begins to move towards Taisei and pulls out the chair they usually keep in the front. 

“Give us a second to finish cleaning up. You sit.” Taisei tries to give a rebuttle but stops himself as he realizes how tired he truly is and slides down into the chair. Jiro and Taro work quickly. All the while looking around for any sign of the so called “third coworker”. The two put their aprons onto their hooks and walk over to Taisei who jumps up as if he was shocked.

“OK! So how have things been?”  
Taro and Jiro look at each other.

“It’s been completely...normal? Like yesterday and the day before. Like we haven’t seen or heard anything. I know we couldn’t see anything before but this time it seriously feels like he’s not here.”  
Taro shrugs. “Maybe Yuudai finally passed over now that he scared the shit out of us. “ Taro lets out a hearty laugh as they look to Taisei who gives a smile.

“Not to burst your bubble Taro but I think he’s still here.”  
Taro shuts up. Jiro looks around expecting to be able to see something. 

“Really? Where is he?”

“Heh. Um...He’s standing right behind you guys.” 

Yuudai would usually laugh at seeing the two men jump in terror but not this time. He stares at the taller man in front of him. Of all the people for him to see, why did it have to be him. He had been quiet for a couple days. He prayed that maybe with that everything would go back to normal. The two idiots would think they imagined all of that, they’d go back to being the idiot workers they were, and Yuudai would be able to get back to his normal dead life. 

A piece of him had wanted to react when Taro called out to him but he knew nothing could come from talking to the man who was holding up a knife. 

Yuudai opened his mouth. He tried to think of what to say. What would be best? ‘Get out?’ ‘I DON'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU!’ ‘Don’t make me send your ass flying.’ even though he knew he didn’t have the strength to do such a thing. 

“Why can you see me?” When the words came out of his mouth Yuudai didn’t recognize his own voice for a second. He sounded curious, almost like a kid who was searching for the answer to a game. Taisei does not react at first, causing Yuudai to feel his heart slightly sink. ‘I guess he can see me but not hear me.’ Yuudai thinks as he begins to turn. A piece of him finds relief in this but another piece of him is hurt. 

“Oh i’m sorry. I was trying to think of what to say.” Yuudai turns back, the man in front of him takes a moment to think before looking him directly into the eye. “I guess I can see you because...my family has experience with talking to spirits? It’s different but I can talk to the dead.” Taisei kinda laughs nervously. Jiro and Taro look at Taisei a bit puzzled but quickly realize what he’s doing. Jiro moves towards the front to make sure that no one is coming near the stall. They didn’t need Mura seeing this. 

Yuudai finds himself chuckling in response to Taisei’s laughter. “Pfft. ‘The Dead?’ Right. Sometimes I forget that I'm “the dead” to ya’ll.” Taisei follows up with another bit of laughter, his smile almost blinding as he looked away from Yuudai embarrassed. 

“I have to say. At first I really did think you were a third coworker. I can’t always tell when people are ghosts and when they are alive sometimes.” Taisei scratched his head and moved a bit closer to Yuudai.

“Pfft. Well, just don’t use my name for any curses or anything.” Yuudai is taken by surprise by his ability to make a joke. Taisei snorts and tries to cover his mouth so he doesn’t laugh too hard. Taisei looks towards the front of the stall, praying that he wasn’t too loud to catch anyone’s attention. Jiro looks in the direction of the cash register girl who waves hello before returning to closing up her stall. Jiro almost melts as he attempts to wave back. Taisei does a fake gasp and puts his hand on his chest feigning shock.

“Why, I would never good sir.”  
Yuudai takes a moment to really notice this man’s features while Taisei calms himself down. It was almost refreshing to just take in the pink hue from blushing on Taisei’s cheeks and the warm chestnut color of Taisei’s eyes. How long had it been since he had talked to someone other than himself. Yuudai tried to think of what to say. Maybe ask him how his day was, he did look a bit drained. Or maybe-

“Hey what’s he saying?” Yuudai and Tai looked to Taro who looked to Tai and then somewhat in the direction of Yuudai, obviously unknowing of where exactly he was standing. Taisei turned to Taro. 

“He just asked me how I'm able to see him and you were right. His name is Yuudai. He made a funny joke, that’s why I was laughing. Taro, you didn’t tell me he had such a sense of humor.” Taro looks in the direction he suspects Yuudai to be and for once almost looks him straight in the eye.

“. . . Neither did I. I guess at least now we know that Yuudai is just as good at being scary as he was before.” Taro snickered to himself. Yuudai grumbled in frustration. It wasn’t as if he was wrong, but that wasn’t exactly the first thing he expected to hear from him. Yuudai felt a bit of frustration bubble up inside of him. Taisei began to reach out towards Yuudai but stopped as a small bottle flew off the table and hit the back wall. Taro jumped as it flew by him. Jiro jumped upon hearing the sound and not knowing what had occurred. Yuudai felt himself pale in surprise and turned to Taro. The smile hadn’t left Taro’s face but he had stopped laughing. He looked towards the wall and then back to Taisei. 

“Alright. I’m gonna go get the bat.” Taro began to take steps towards the back.

Taisei chased after Taro, after seeing the panic that hit Yuudai’s face.  
“Whoa whoa. Taro, he didn’t mean it. Did you Yuudai?”

Yuudai looked up to Taro and shook his head. He hadn’t meant to this time around. Seeing this only made him think about the day before where he had done the same, why was this all suddenly happening? Was it because of him? Yuudai looked to Taisei who was still reassuring Taro that Yuudai hadn’t done it on purpose. Taro let out a tired sigh and moved back to where he had been. “Fine. As long as you don’t try to throw a glass one at me next time.” Jiro walked up next to Taisei. 

“Okay. Everyone is starting to close up completely. So, we should probably do the same.” For once Yuudai was grateful for Jiro. He let out a grunt in agreement. He had definitely interacted enough for today. Yuudai looked to Taisei one more time and began to move towards the back. Maybe if he moved quickly he wouldn’t notice.

“Ah~ wait!” Taisei yelled from behind him. Yuudai continued to move. At least until he felt something. He felt something beat inside of him again. The feeling of skin on skin caught him off guard and with it a memory. Or at least a blur of a memory. Yuudai felt himself turn without thinking to look at his hand. Taisei’s hand was wrapped around Yuudai’s but the finger tips phrased through his palm. Yuudai could feel it, but not completely. He looked to Taisei who also looked down at his hand and then up to Yuudai. His eyes almost pleading before he even spoke.

“Do you mind...if I visit you again?” 

What? Taisei realizes what he said and tries to think of a better way to say it.

“What I mean is- Is it alright to come talk to you again. I know this is technically the sakana stall but...it was fun talking to you is what I mean.” Yuudai looks away in an attempt to not feel like he’s looking at a sad puppy. He gave a small nod, somewhat regretting it as the sad puppy in front of him became a bright ray of sunshine, his smile spread from ear to ear. Taisei removed his hand from Yuudai and took a step back. 

“Alright. Perfect! He said ‘yes’ you guys!!” Yuudai looks to the two sakana brothers who had proceeded to finish closing up and looked to Taisei a bit surprised. They had the same look on their faces as Yuudai, although Jiro gave Taisei a smile. ‘3. 2. 1.’ Yuudai took the moment to escape, rushing through the tarp and ignoring the sound of Taisei’s reaction. He swooped up the stairs into the balcony. And then he waited. The silence almost caught him off guard as he relaxed and waited. He listened to the quiet clatter as the sakanas finished cleaning up a bit of muffled talking could be heard. The sun covered the back area in orange light. 

Yuudai began to close his eyes as the final bit of clattering subsided, but jumped up as he heard the ruffle of the tarp. He peered down from his area, taking in the sight of Taisei looking into the back area of the shop. He looked around for a moment before letting out a sigh. The smile that sat on his face almost made Yuudai want to jump out of his hiding spot. It was calm and almost a bit sad. Taisei did one final look around, even coming close to peering in the same direction as Yuudai before speaking. 

“Have a good night, Yuudai.” He sighed before going back inside and shutting the connecting door. The light in the back of the stall clicked off, only making the area darker as Yuudai realized just how late it was. He turned over onto his back and laid back. He brought his hand up, trying to fully remember the feeling of being able to hold someone's hand. How long would it be before he’d feel something like that again. He closed his eyes and put his hand over his chest. Hoping that the beating that seemed to fill his chest would slow down and lull him to sleep.


End file.
